# Is test preparation an act of cheating? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 18, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662 "2013-02-18T03:25:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662/21 "2013-02-18T06:33:32Z")
Cheating? That might be a bit strong, but the more emphasis is put on tests, and the more effort that goes into preparing for tests, the less actual learning is going on. If we have to have tests (and, sadly, I suppose we do) they should be about assessing how much students have learnt from their courses, not about assessing how well they have prepared for the test. Tests can’t cover every point on the syllabus, so they have to deal with just a sample, and test preparation involves guessing what is going to be on the test (you can often make a good guess, because some material or aspects of the material lends itself better to being tested than others, even though they may not be the most important aspects), and then focusing on memorizing that material (often more or less disconnected facts) to the detriment of other aspects of the course. Worse still, test preparation may focus on test taking techniques, basically ways of trying to game the system, so that the students focus on learning to be good test takers, rather than on learning anything at all about the subject matter of their courses. You end up testing whether people are good test takers rather than whether they are learning anything. The best tests, the ones most likely to show whether and to what degree students are really understanding what they are being taught (and the ones most likely to motivate students to pay attention throughout), are ones given totally by surprise, with no opportunity for preparation. Unfortunately, however, these present a lot of logistical problems, and many students hate them because they can’t game them like they can a test announced well in advance. So, yeah, test preparation might not be cheating, but it is a very bad thing that it exists. It screws up real learning (and students’ motivations) and it screws up the objectivity of the tests themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662/22 "2013-02-18T08:28:59Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Sorry, what? Heh. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662/23 "2013-02-18T08:32:46Z")
> [@hrhomer](#): > > It’s a typo. Pointing out typos is lame. I’m sure you could find me doing it right here on this board if you looked, but it’s still lame. Wellllll… There are typos and there are typos. The kind that involves a finger simply slipping and hitting the wrong key is one thing. But ‘o’ is quite far away from ‘a’ on the keyboard. It’s pretty clear my typo wasn’t a physical one but a cognitive one–some part of my brain, for at least just a split second, really did think the word was spelled with an ‘o’. That is indeed a (mildly) ironic thing to happen in a sentence claiming qualification for teaching people how to prepare for the GRE. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662/24 "2013-02-18T14:09:11Z")
When I was growing up, I’m not sure I’d even heard of “test preparation” for tests like the SAT or ACT. At least, I know I never seriously considered using something like that, and I don’t think they would have helped; I’ve always been very good at taking multiple-choice tests, and the test-taking strategies like what **Frylock** mentions are things that I’d have just considered common sense. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662/25 "2013-02-18T17:01:48Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Wellllll… > > There are typos and there are typos. The kind that involves a finger simply slipping and hitting the wrong key is one thing. But ‘o’ is quite far away from ‘a’ on the keyboard. It’s pretty clear my typo wasn’t a physical one but a cognitive one–some part of my brain, for at least just a split second, really did think the word was spelled with an ‘o’. That is indeed a (mildly) ironic thing to happen in a sentence claiming qualification for teaching people how to prepare for the GRE. I now think my brain thought for an instant that it was typing “thought” instead of “taught.” Not quite as dumb. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662/26 "2013-02-18T17:49:51Z")
Just about anyone who graduates from law school takes a bar exam prep course. Is that cheating? I can see people objecting to the fact that those with money can afford the classes while those without can’t which further increases inequality. But the same thing applies to the school kids go to. Unfortunate, but not cheating. Test prep classes started when the College Board started releasing old tests, which gave the companies something to teach to. I took them before this, and when I was in high school there were no classes - just a few sample questions in the book, and hints about test taking. What I remember is that when the first classes were taught ETS didn’t object to them as cheating, but claimed that they didn’t do any good. I think the evidence showed that they did do good. I don’t remember any colleges objecting to test prep classes but I was in college when this happened. Anyone have a cite? ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662/27 "2013-02-18T17:52:21Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Wellllll… > > There are typos and there are typos. The kind that involves a finger simply slipping and hitting the wrong key is one thing. But ‘o’ is quite far away from ‘a’ on the keyboard. It’s pretty clear my typo wasn’t a physical one but a cognitive one–some part of my brain, for at least just a split second, really did think the word was spelled with an ‘o’. That is indeed a (mildly) ironic thing to happen in a sentence claiming qualification for teaching people how to prepare for the GRE. It was a prep course for the GRE in spelling, wasn’t it? But you’ll never admit that now… ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662/28 "2013-02-18T17:54:45Z")
It’s not cheating. It may be a reflection of unequal access to support materials, and that it unfortunate if it keeps some people from success, but it’s not cheating in and of itself. Regarding the a/o “typo”, a slip of the finger can also occur when you accidentally hit a letter with your right hand instead of your left when touch typing. The o could substitute fro the a if that happens. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662/29 "2013-02-18T18:03:16Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Regarding the a/o “typo”, a slip of the finger can also occur when you accidentally hit a letter with your right hand instead of your left when touch typing. The o could substitute fro the a if that happens. The offending party has already explained his transgression. This scenario was not the reason for the error. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662/30 "2013-02-18T18:04:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It’s certainly unfair that some students (or their parents) can afford better test preparation than others, but the solution to that is to make better test preparation available to everyone. I’ve never heard it described as cheating. Agreed. > [@Ambivalid](#): > > Why is it such “weak sauce” to find it mildly ironic that a teacher for prep course for a grad-school level test would be misspelling “taught”? Do tell. I doubt anyone disagrees about the slight irony. But it’s terribly gauche to point it out. I assure you, we all spotted the irony without your aid. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662/31 "2013-02-18T18:06:31Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > The offending party has already explained his transgression. This scenario was not the reason for the error. Ok. I was speaking hypothetically, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662/32 "2013-02-18T18:08:28Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Agreed. > > I doubt anyone disagrees about the slight irony. But it’s terribly gauche to point it out. I assure you, we all spotted the irony without your aid. I wasn’t doing it as a ‘public service’ to my fellow dopers; I pointed it out because the irony was amusing. Period. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662/33 "2013-02-18T18:12:06Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Ok. I was speaking hypothetically, anyway. Sorry, I understand the point of your post now. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662/34 "2013-02-18T18:19:12Z")
Put me down with **dropzone**. I’ve always been a “test-taker,” and I too approached them with nonchalance if not outright distain. I never had the drive to go to a top college or be a doctor or any of that, so what was the point of trying to prep the tests? But those who feel differently are welcome to all the prep they can pay for. Doesn’t bother me a bit. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662/35 "2013-02-18T18:20:03Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Sorry, I understand the point of your post now. > > :smack: That’s ok- it wasn’t outrageously clear on my part. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662/36 "2013-02-18T22:09:46Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > I wasn’t doing it as a ‘public service’ to my fellow dopers; I pointed it out because the irony was amusing. Period. I don’t quite get the negative reactions myself. Maybe a winky smiley would have helped, though. But I got it, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662/37 "2013-02-19T00:26:27Z")
Not cheating, but the non-uniformity of it makes the scores less informative than they could be. It can be tricky to evaluate a graduate student application that has a discrepancy between GRE scores and everything else (in either direction). ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662/38 "2013-02-19T02:19:30Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I don’t quite get the negative reactions myself. Maybe a winky smiley would have helped, though. > > But I got it, anyway. Good. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662/39 "2013-02-19T05:55:00Z")
Anything you can do before the test is perfectly ethically Ok and not cheating in any way shape or form. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662/40 "2013-02-19T06:31:55Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Anything you can do before the test is perfectly ethically Ok and not cheating in any way shape or form. Like scribbling notes on your hand? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-test-preparation-an-act-of-cheating/650662.md?page=3)